A Happy Birthday
by 6SidedLove
Summary: It's Kaneda's birthday, but he's home alone. Resigned to boredom, he gets a better present than he would have expected. AkazawaKaneda


"Goodbye, sweetheart, and happy birthday!"

Kaneda mumbled a 'thanks' as his mother gave him a kiss on the cheek and swished out the door, reminding him to be good and stay safe. He sighed as the door closed behind her, a few snowflakes drifting in onto the doormat. He _should_ be happy, after all, not only was it his birthday, it was New Year's Eve, it was snowing, and there was no school. The only problem was, he was alone. His mother had just left to spend the day with an old friend, his father was out of town at something called a 'brain conference,' his brother had been invited to spend New Year's with a classmate, and all his friends, he assumed, were at their own homes, with their own families. He sighed again, almost wishing he were at school, just so he would have someone to talk to.

Well, in lieu of that, he would simply have to entertain himself. For his birthday, he had received a brand new tennis racket: excellent, top quality, but rather useless with three inches of snow on the ground. What else was there to do? 'Read a book,' was the first thing that came to mind, so that was what he did, curling up on the couch in the living room with a book he had been meaning to finish.

He had been reading for about three hours when he heard it— and in fact he was so engrossed in the story that he almost _didn't_ hear it— a soft knocking on the front door. Vaguely he wondered who would be calling at this time (almost seven-thirty) on New Year's Eve, especially when it was still steadily snowing. He put his book down on the end table and got up to tell whoever it was that he was sorry for their trouble, but no one else was home.

Fortunately, he didn't have to, as the person was calling for him. Kaneda's eyes nearly popped as he opened the door, for standing there on the stoop was one of the people he had least expected to see.

"B– Buchou?"

"Hey." Akazawa waved a gloved hand at him. "Err, can I come in?" The other boy had a scarf wrapped snugly up to his chin, his nose and cheeks were red with cold, and there were snowflakes in his eyelashes.

"There are snowflakes in your eyelashes," said Kaneda.

"Oh. Um, sorry. I didn't realize that wasn't allowed..." Akazawa started to brush them off.

"Ah, no! I mean, it's fine, I was just... saying..." Kaneda's face was also rather pink, but not from the cold. "I mean, come in. Please." He felt like a rather fantastic idiot. Akazawa had obviously walked to his house, given that there were only footprints leading down the walk and back up the street, and not only had he left him out in the cold, he had made a stupid comment about _eyelashes_. He kicked himself, mentally.

"Thanks." Akazawa stepped across the threshold and began stripping himself of his snow-soaked winter wear: scarf, coat, boots, gloves— "Oh." He held out a small, flat package wrapped in green paper with Christmas trees. "Happy birthday."

"R– really? Thanks!" Kaneda took the package gingerly, as if it were the most precious gift he had ever received. He tore open the wrapping paper reverently, slowly revealing the contents: a DVD.

"I didn't know if you had that one already, or anything, but—"

"No! I mean, no, I don't have it already. This is great! I've been meaning to watch this." He looked up into Akazawa's face. "Thank you, buchou."

Akazawa laughed and scratched the back of his neck. "You don't really have to call me that. It's winter break, ya know?"

"Oh. Er, alright." There was an awkward pause.

"Well I was thinking, that we could watch it... together, ya know? That is, if you don't—"

"I'd love to!" Kaneda exclaimed, and then blushed. "I mean, sure. Um, have a seat." He gestured to the couch he had recently vacated. "Want something to drink?"

"No, thanks, I'm alright."

"Oh, okay." Kaneda popped in the DVD, sat down on the couch next to his sempai, turned off the lamp he had been reading by and clicked the remote to start the movie. Soon enough the awkward silences melted away into easy laughter and movie commentary, poking fun at the over-serious aspects, the atrocious dubbing, and hey, the bad guy sounds a bit like Mizuki-san, doesn't he?

After awhile, however, the conversation grew heavy, as did the boys' eyelids. It was a very long movie, coupled with the warmth from the glowing logs in the fireplace (fake, of course) and the fact that it was already past ten had lulled them into a sleepy stupor. Kaneda wasn't sure where the movie ended and his dream began; knowing only that he woke over an hour later with his head on Akazawa's chest and vague notions that that had been a key point of his dreams. Blushing furiously he tried to get up, but as he shifted he realized that Akazawa's arm was draped across his back, effectively pinning him in place. If only he could move it, maybe he could get away and pretend that this never happened... no use! Akazawa's eyes flickered open and locked on to Kaneda's.

"Nnh, movie over?" he mumbled. Then he seemed to notice what a rather compromising position they were in, and quickly let go. "Err, well."

"Um, yeah. Sorry."

"Oh, no, don't be. Er..." Akazawa trailed off and decide to look at his watch instead. "Hey, look, wow, it's almost eleven-forty. Want to watch the New Year's thing?"

"Sure." Kaneda grabbed the remote and changed the channel, glad to have a new topic. Maybe. Actually, once he thought about it, he wished he knew how Akazawa had felt about it. He hadn't seemed too thrilled— or had he? When he had first woken up, he was smiling, wasn't he? And he had said not to be sorry about it... but maybe that was just being polite. Even so, Kaneda found himself sneaking glances at the older boy far more than perhaps he should have. And perhaps it was his imagination, but most of the time, Akazawa seemed to be glancing back.

Finally, the time had almost come, and the countdown had begun: Ten, nine, eight...

"Kaneda?"

Seven.

"Hm?"

Six.

"Um, happy birthday."

Five.

"Ah... thanks."

Four. Silence. Three.

"Kaneda?"

Two.

"Yes?"

One.

Suddenly Akazawa leaned forward, took Kaneda's face in his hands, and kissed him, gently, on the lips. Fireworks exploded on the television, signaling the coming of the New Year. Kaneda was pretty sure there were fireworks exploding in his brain, too."

"Happy New Year." Akazawa whispered.

"Ah... thanks."


End file.
